From the earliest memories of my life, I dreamt of outer space, and wanted to be an astronomer. As I grew up listening to religious fables, the seed of idealism found its way in me. Further, as an adolescent, I loved reading stories, and dreamt of writing my own one day. Just like any enchanted teenager, I thought I would make a film one day. Also, I wrote plots in my diary.

In the undergraduate years, I read philosophy, and fancied myself a philosopher, giving sermons to society. After my post-graduation, I thought a teacher dwelt within me. At one point, I thought I could be a singer. Well, I could not help daydreaming! Over time, my love for literature, arts and music kept growing.

As an entrepreneur, I understood the need for responsibility, so I aspired for responsibility as an entrepreneur. I truly aspired to become an agent of change. As I started graying, I found I could package my thoughts as a speech, and I thought I should be a speaker. My saga continues.

Until this time, I pursued none of these dreams, nor have I made efforts to achieve those aspirations. I hesitated. I have always waited for the right time.

As a citizen, as a unit of the society I inhabit, I see a lot of pressing issues that are preventing the society to be just. Individually and collectively we all have gotten in us ingrained, the art of procrastination. ‘It’s ok to delay; the time shall come’ – has become the societal norm.

It took one third of my life to realize every moment is the right time and hesitation equals death. Now, I realize it is time to kill the hesitation. It is time to live all the dreams; it is time to be all I never tried to be. It is time.

Prologue : A teacher is one who wants to teach you, a ‘Guru’ is one who makes you learn. A students idea is ‘to be’, whereas a disciple (shishya) is the one who wants ‘to become’. In other words a student is looking for change while a disciple is aspiring to transform.

Many years back, must be my secondary school days, if i remember it well, around my wonder years, back in time when I was studying in 8th or 9th grade, I happened to read a story. This story has had a lasting impact on my thought process. I do not clearly remember that story and its context, but it is this one scene from the story which has stayed with me and shaped my understanding. It goes like this.

A young disciple, completely devoted to his guru, was someone who was committed to follow on the path shown by his guru. He had this habit of always going to his guru whenever in some critical decision making situation. And the Guru would readily guide him out during each such instance; in the process the guru would enlighten the disciple. One fine day, in a similar situation as the disciple reaches out to his Guru, the Guru doesn’t offer him any guidance. The disciple is astonished and couldn’t believe this fact. The Guru sends him back by saying “Son, I have given you enough, I leave you now to imbibe all of that, find your own path, and make your own experiences. Its time you take your decisions without me.”

Now this incident from the story found its way deep within myself. Over different periods of my existence this story has provided me different lessons. It started with me believing that a ‘guru’ can only take one this far. One cannot have a guide to eternity. At some later stages i realized the importance of ‘swadhyay’ or ‘learning by self’. Further ahead I understood that it will all be fruitless if one does not learn to take his/her own decisions.

Over many summers of my existence I was fortunate to come across many learned people and many loving teachers. It was quite later in my young life that i discovered a ‘Guru’. It was destined for me to get my greatest lessons from this one person. However the above story was always a part of me, and hence in spite of total surrender I never actually became dependent. That infinite love and reverence can thrive and still one remains boundless was a unique experience and a learning for me. Secondly I knew that the physical proximity and one-to-one transfer of knowledge with the ‘Guru’ can only happen till a limited period of time. This understanding fueled my urge to learn and make the most of those transactions. Many individuals close to me, around that period, sensed a transformation in me, they sensed an urgency in me; I could not explain it to them, than, but deep down i knew that i need to build myself to a level from where I can be on my own. Also I never wanted to come to a point, like the boy in that story had to, where my Guru feels that his disciple has not learned to be on his own.

Many Guru – Disciple relations end in agony and bitterness or in sheer blinded dependence. The crux of this eventuality is the non-realization of the fact that – a guru can only take you this far. With this dawned another important learning from that story and a whole new dimension of learning opened up for me. A disciple is the one who is aspiring to move to a higher destination, in every which way. A ‘guru’ is the form who takes the disciple to that destination. However if one remains focused on the destination and not the form, than ‘guru’ dissolves his form and becomes a part of your being. Somewhere within you the ‘guru’ is installed, and without any one-to-one interaction the transaction continues. Whenever in doubts or in crisis I am able to talk with my ‘guru’ without even talking with him. In certain extraordinary situations i would have resorted to the one-to-one interactions, but largely I have come this far with the help of the ‘guru’ within. Many times while I ponder on all that I have received from my ‘guru’, I end up tearful. The enormity of the receipt is so huge that all the ego inside me is pushed out by way of tears.

And so I learn that the ‘guru’ in the story while denying his disciple the guidance, has actually given him the greatest lesson anyone can learn. That ‘without’ can be turned into ‘within’.

This has been my experience since a decade now, whereby the ‘Guru’ has found a position ‘within’. In his distinct style he had shared something, which for me is the articulation of the above learning. He said to a few of us, “I do not want you to be learned, I want you to be learners’.

In whatever limited capacity, with pride, I can tell myself, that I have not stopped learning and I know, the ‘Guru’ within would not let me decay ever.

I thought twice before giving the above title to this essay; putting the word ‘dummies’ along with ‘Guru Purnima’ which is linked with knowledge and learning, makes it an oxymoron of sorts. But than we all need to be guided, and hence I call this essay ‘Dummies Guide to Guru Purnima’.

Bhagvad says “You have got every right to do your sins, but you have got also a responsibility of coming out”.

The essay is an effort in ‘coming out’.

Guru Purnima is among the few ancient festivals celebrated across India. Now, the modern connotation of the term ‘festival’ is so clouded that it distances itself from the inherent meaning of the respective festival. Festival, this days equates with pomposity, over indulgence, wastefulness, consumerism etc. Apart from all that happened to our society over the last 500-800 years the worse that has happened is the loss of ‘mindfulness’. From being considered a vice, Indifference is now an accepted virtue.

Considering this I would describe Guru Purnima as an event and not a festival. To understand any phenomena one needs to understand the context, one needs to evaluate what happens before that event and what happens after that event. Over the course of next few pages, we shall try and understand this event through lenses of science, history and spirituality.

The first lesson of astronomy that we all know is that the earth’s axis of rotation is tilted. The seasons occur because the Earth’s axis of rotation is not perpendicular to its orbital plane. As a consequence, for half the year the Northern Hemisphere is inclined toward the Sun while for the other half year the Southern Hemisphere has this distinction. The two moments when the inclination of Earth’s rotational axis has maximum effect are the Solstices. Northern solstice is the moment when the sun reaches its highest position with reference to the North Pole. Similarly Southern Solstice is the moment when, the sun reaches its highest position with reference to the South pole.

After establishing a Solstice, we need to know the phenomena of Equinox. The moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator is called an Equinox. This happens twice in a year, at one point the sun would seem to be heading northward and at second time the sun would seem to be heading southward.

The two equinox and the two solstice have a strong bearing on the weather, climate and seasons on every point of earth. Northern solstice marks the end of summer at most places and southern solstice would be a winter period in the northern hemisphere. The northward equinox is when the spring occurs and southward equinox is when the autumn or fall occurs (in the northern hemisphere).

What I am trying to establish is the equation between the sun and the planet we reside on changes distinctly at this four points, and we being on this planet our equation with the cosmos changes too, bringing about certain qualitative changes in human physiology.

The below graphic will tell you when this four events occur during a year.In hindi Solstice means ‘Ayana’ and Equinox means ‘vishuv’. Summer Solstice is the moment after which the sun appears to be moving southwards hence in India we know this phase as ‘Dakshinayan’. For six months starting 14th of July it is the Dakshinayan Phase. Similarly six months from 14th January, the Winter Solstice are known as ‘Uttarayan’ in India. (As per Tropical Zodiac the two solstice occur on 21st of June and 21st of December respectively). Same are also known as Kark Sankranti and Makar Sankranti respectively. The points when Sun enters the Cancer position and Capricorn position are the two Sankranti’s.

Let me start by putting across some data to establish the science behind the existence of India’s traditional festivals. We have seen above that the relationship of earth and sun changes over the course of the formers revolution around the latter. Given this base most of our festivals are established, keeping in the mind the cosmic forces acting upon at that time. Agriculture is a simple example to understand this. Can seeds be sown out of its turn? Can land be ploughed at any time of the year? The answer to this, which we all know, is negative. In order to get a harvest ploughing and sowing has to happen at a particular time during the year, considering the seasons. Similarly Human being, who is a soul residing in the body made up of earthly elements can make most of the cosmic energy if certain things are done at certain time. It is a deep science.

In the figure below I have attempted to show various festivals and its relationship with astronomic situations along with reference to agriculture. if we divide the year in two halves, we shall see a pattern in the various Festivals that are traditionally celebrated in certain period. Lets have a look at this graphic.

If you really see closely, the festivals that fall in the Dakshinayan are more rooted in sadhana and tapasya (focused on discipline and frugality). Most of the occasions to fast come during this period. From a health perspective due to monsoons and also sun being away, the metabolism of human body is at its lower degree as compared to the Uttarayan phase. From Agriculture point of view this is the time to plough and sow, basically time to prepare. And in the phase of preparation one should be more focused and disciplined, hence there aren’t many celebration occasions during this period. So the festivals are in coherence with these realities.

Now looking at the festivals that occur during the Uttarayan phase, they are more about celebration and sharing of joy. It is also the harvest period of the year, time to take yield. In modern terms also it is the end of Financial year, time to check your yield. Also the season of Spring, considered the most beautiful season occurs during this period. On the first day of Chaitra month one would find many festivals across cultures in the entire sub-continent. Geo-astronomically on this day, Sun is closest to earth, the following 21 days are supposed to be the hottest days of the year, time when earth recharges its batteries. So if you see each of the festival is in complete coherence with the cosmic arrangements. Any normal person celebrating these festivals in its true spirit is set to benefit.

The event of Guru Purnima occurs on the first Full Moon day after the Summer Solstice. This day, more than any other day of the year, the receptivity of every being on the planet is higher. The conditions are conducive for the one who is willing to outgrow.

The indifferent lot would argue with me, that ‘If I am prepared I do not need any such support’; my response is ‘a car would never run without the fuel, but the way it is maintained has a bearing on its functioning and its efficiency. Similarly a human needs to have the basic amount of energy to live his life, but if he is able to take care of himself by using this available science he would be better suited to achieve his goals.”

That’s about the science part. Let’s try and go beyond.

The above clearly establishes the strong scientific connect between the Hindu calendar and earths position in the cosmos. The traditional calendar takes into account the experience and impact happening on the human being due to difference of positions of celestial bodies around the earth. If we delve deeper we shall realize that the festivals are derivations so that a human body and mind can make the most of these celestial events for his or her well being and peace.

The first Full Moon Day of the month of Ashadha (June-July) is known as Guru Purnima.

This sacred day marks the very first transmission of the yogic sciences from Shiva – the Adiyogi or the First Yogi – to the Saptarishis, the seven celebrated sages. This momentous occasion took place on the banks of the lake Kantisarovar, which stands a few kilometers above the Kedarnath Temple in the Himalayas. Thus, the Adiyogi became the Adi Guru or the First Guru on this day. The Saptarishis carried this knowing offered by Adiyogi throughout the world. Even today, every spiritual process on the planet draws from the spine of knowing created by Adiyogi. It is said that the Saptarishis followed extreme ascetism and penance (tapasya) for 84 long years before the grace of Adiyogi fell upon them.

The followers of Jain tenet believe the Adi yogi to be Adinath, the first Tirthankara or the ford-maker of current time epoch. His place of sadhana is known as Ashtapada, a region located in the Himalayas. Legends say that Adinath invented the science of agriculture and in his kingdom the very first experiment of farming took place, in the form of sugarcane crop. Even today the region of Hastinapur (Western UP) is known for Sugarcane cultivation.

What does this piece of history tells us – it tells us the beginning of Knowing. It marks the moment on this planet when the instance of ‘transfer of knowledge’ took place for the first time. Today the beings on this planet have evolved and developed various tools of storage and dissemination of knowledge, and the world measures its progress in its ability to share, which is not limited to time and space. Thus more than any other ‘day’ that we celebrate, this day, this occasion of Guru Purnima should be celebrated.

Now, if we go back to the advent of seasons we would come to know that this period, after the Summer Solstice (Kark Sankranti) is when the fields are ploughed. Farmers across geography, with minor time variations, would start into the process of readying their farmlands so that seeds can be sowed at the right time. Else there would be no harvest. Going by this same mechanics, the body along with its intellect, which is nothing but a piece of earth, has to be ploughed during this period. The six months until the winter solstice, are to be dedicated to ‘sadhana’ (disciplined and dedicated practice) in order to evolve out of one’s transgression and limitation.

“This day, the day of Guru Purnima, the first full moon day after the solstice is a time when this planet and all life upon it are most receptive to the cosmic energy and possibilities. The next six months till the winter solstice is the best time to strive for evolving and experiencing the divine possibility that is innate in a human being “ ~ Sadhguru

The day should be celebrated as an event to set goals, and prepare oneself for higher learning’s. The day is an opportunity whereby one is able to do the ‘preparations’ better due to the existent celestial positions of that day.

There were times when holidays from work were worked around this available science; for reasons best known to each one of us, now we do not keep holidays on such important occasions and let the opportunity slip by. Imagine a farmer letting go the opportunity to plough and sow before the rains, would there be anything for him to harvest then??

If we look into various religious traditions, lot of festivals focusing on austerity and sadhana fall during this period. Hindus have their ‘Shravan’ month (July-augsut) for month long austerity. Jains all over maintain extreme austerity during the four months starting from this day. The festival of sacrifice ‘paryushana’ also falls during this period. We have looked into this point in detail above.

In Sanskrit “Guru” means “dispeller of darkness”. A guru is the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance and leads the aspirants to the path of enlightenment. “If you are willing, you can transcend all your limitations and evolve to a higher realm” ~ an aspirant who chooses to do this sadhana would want to start of by showing his surrender and gratitude for the route, through which he can reach knowledge – that route is a Guru. This day of Guru Purnima is the day to do this.

Thus, 1 – the appropriateness of the day to prepare oneself for learning and 2 – obeisance for the ‘guru’ , this two put together is the essence of the event called Guru Purnima.

Having said all of the above, I never required this essay to believe in the above. A decade back, almost around the winter solstice, while I was going through an emotional turmoil, dejected and depressed by some occurrences around me, my teacher, my Guru said to me “Mihir, this are petty happenings. After a period in time, you will realize the insignificance of these events which you are considering the core of your identity. Believe me, you are made for higher achievements, and you should start moving ahead.” These words are the spine of my self-belief, and made me realize at a very young age, that if armed with belief, guided by a ‘guru’ and fuelled by willingness – even a lesser mortal like me can transform. Not that I have proven my worth to my teacher, but my belief in my potential to transform remains undeterred. Given this background – obeisance for the ‘guru’ come naturally to me, and this obeisance has further broken down my indifference, leading me to believe in the appropriateness of the day of Guru Purnima.

This brings us to the point where one would ask me, “Ok, we got it, so what should we be doing on this day?” I would suggest, take some time from your schedule, and spend that time out in the nature. Take a walk, sit back in a park, watch the butterflies, listen to soothing music, and just relax. And if possible meditate while the full moon shines upon you.

Student : Sir, I understand the attitude of ‘giving more’ or ‘keep doing the new’ or ‘keep contributing’, whatever way we may put it. And to an extent these attitudes does open up various faculties of an individual’s persona and help him expand. But I feel, the flip side of this attitude is, sometime, even after doing a lot, if it has not transformed into economies or if the given activity has not yielded any tangible uplift than, one feels frustrated. For example a young dynamic chap who is jumpy in his career direction, may find himself nowhere in spite of putting in years of work experience and in spite of dozens of so called ‘contributing’ efforts. At such a point one feels a loss of direction; one feels ones heading nowhere and so stays dissatisfied?

Sir : Not necessarily! Not necessary that one would become dissatisfied.
What could happen with positively inclined people is – in given settings just see what best you can create, or offer. Sometimes, what happens in industrial lines, or in certain types of actions, that we think we are good at; and therefore we want to be in that only and consider that as direction or focus. But it doesn’t have to be that ways. Responding to the given environment with the potential we are, is important, more important. And that might sometimes deprive us from those lines of expertise or direction. The so called directed movement sometimes you may have to fore go, you might be denied those things because in the given environment those things may not have any place.

Suppose you are a good painter and in given environment there is no scope for expressing your painting skill, but still you are a potential. Can u respond to that environment where there is no scope for painting, painting as we understand? Well, it cud be a simple talk on the surrealist trends, painting can also be talked out, or a painting could simply be lived. It doesn’t have to be necessarily and every time an expression that is known to us only. We know the expression of painting in a certain form, and that only doesn’t have to be a manifestation of our talent. It could be in other ways, sometimes even in ways which we cannot imagine right now. That’s where innovation takes place, that’s where new things come up, creation comes up, that’s how world goes ahead. Whatever technological manifestation we see these days you wouldn’t have imagined that a couple of centuries ago, but than how did it all came into being? That is what the ‘non-wastage’ of potential I am referring to.

Secondly, dissatisfaction with the way we are living and the way we have lived in past so many years or so many seasons, is fine. This is what our restlessness is- You got to be restless about status quo so that you will create new things. Only if you are restless about the status quo about the given things you will be able to create something new, isn’t it?
So to that extent restlessness, yes, it is required. It is at the core of innovation, at the core of creativity. But if restlessness is because of dissatisfaction then it is a tricky issue.

“We are restless not because we are dissatisfied; we are restless because though we are satisfied, at that point of time the potential is not being used. We are satisfied, so we are restless not because of the dissatisfaction or otherwise, we are restless because the potential is lying idle, it’s not being put to use and that’s why we are restless. I can do something more…I can chew a little more….and therefore I do not consider these two as synonyms, dissatisfaction and restlessness.”

Understand the secret of success is satisfaction. You got to be satisfied if you want to take a successful step forward, dissatisfaction would not lead us there. I wouldn’t confuse our thought process by putting them as synonyms. You might have to look at it that way.

Student : Sir, I get varied responses to my decision of moving to this new job which for some is not as healthy as the one I left. For me, may be coming to this city (ahmedabad) was of some social value, and at the back of mind I do harbor the urge to be independent. Quite a few of such factors led me to this decision. And I am fine if I am not comfortable for a while, its ok. But then these various views leave me perplexed.

Sir : Not falling prey to comfort zone dreams is a good thing, and I fully agree there…but then one doesn’t have to be on the extreme side either; a fine balance is what is required. See it’s not about our safety or safety nets that matter, what matters is at no point in time our potential to contribute should go wasted, whether it gets translated in economies or not, what is important is that wastage has to be controlled. Because a wastage now is a wastage forever, you see. that’s the danger. So we have to be a little careful about that. Every day the contribution has to get recorded. If we work in that spirit, its fine. Whether you are stationary or jumpy, it may not make any great difference; so long that you are contributing and not sitting idle. That’s the kind of thing we can do…this is a ‘karma- bhumi’ this place, all said n done we should hold to it; we should give, every day we should give – that’s how we can shape up the world in our own small bit. You contribute, plan it that way.When I heard you are being a bit jumpy it appears a bit risky, but then you are not sitting idle, you are doing your best . So that’s fine. No need to remain perplexed.

Most of ancient Indian knowledge is written in the form of ‘verse’ known as ‘shloka’ or ‘sutra’. A sutra is like a seed, from which thoughts would emerge. A Universe is the term used to define ‘all that exists’. ‘Krishna’ – the hindu god who gave profound wisdom to his devotee and relative ‘Arjuna’, said it all in the form of verses, which is celebrated all across the world as the ‘Gita’ (song of god); this happened while the world was at the cusp of a mythical time zone.

For me and hundreds of students all of this comes through our teacher Dr. KVSM Krishna. Since classroom days to real life situations filled with dilemmas, he is a teacher who is always around to make us learn the ability to take our own decisions. Over a decade and a half a lot of us students would have interacted with him and many who continue to do so, have learn a lot from these conversations. These conversations contain a lot of meaning for everyone who is a student of this University called Life.

A few of those conversations that happened with me, a few with someone else, but were shared with me, I am attempting to bring them here in the form of question and answers, for every student to learn and enrich himself/herself.

Note : My faculty of memory and comprehension is extremely limited in comparison to the quantum of wisdom Dr. Krishna would have shared. The writings I present will be contained by this limitation. I request every reader to consider this as my interpretation of a conversation and not a verbose representation of what he would have said or meant. I apologize for any wrong comprehension that I might end up doing in this process. My intention is to share with many, what some of us have learn from him.

I also invite other students to share the conversations they had with Dr. Krishna over this years. I will be happy to articulate them to the best of my abilities.

“I truly believe that Teaching and Medicine are the noblest of vocations, among all. And they should remain like that. Any institute or individual who takes up these vocations for greed or any other motive other than teaching and curing will only dilute its true delivery. I am a teacher and I would never be my student’s consultant.”

That’s how Dr. KVSM Krishna, my teacher and Course Director responded when I generally queried about his view and interest in associating himself with the ‘so-called’ A-Listed business schools around.

Back in 2000-2001, when I did my PG at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Dr. Krishna was then the Course Director and our teacher for Economics and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. But for me he turned out to be my Teacher for Life. Innumerable lessons on Life and Self Awareness that were bestowed upon me by him. All of these occurred during those hundreds of hours of class room talks as well as countless after class room discussions that happened in his office. Even after the course completion, till date I have the privilege of being blessed with his teachings through various e-mail and phone conversations; though he has been moving to different geographical locations we managed quite a few meetings over the last decade. Each and every of this interaction, be it a casual 5 minute call, he has never left without giving – giving to his student pearls of wisdom from his vast ocean of knowledge.

I credit all my successes to HIM and I accept all my shortcomings as my inability to understand and/or follow his teachings.

His understanding of things is very in depth and focused. His teachings sound simple but takes a lot to understand and comprehend its true meaning. He comes across as a grumpy ol’ chap; but a true student will see a TEACHER in every cell of him. His dedication and commitment towards his students is unparalleled and he would stretch himself to newer limits to touch and teach his students.

As our course started off, it didn’t take me much time to bond with him. The lessons had started flowing and soon, over a year – an introvert, shy, low on confidence, hyper anxious and clouded youngster who could barely understand his self and the world around, some one who had no drive and no ambition – turned into STUDENT OF THE YEAR, scored maximum in almost all subjects and most importantly gained confidence to embark upon an enterprising journey. All of this happened because of an intervention called Dr. Krishna.

At every point, smallest of issue to biggest of resistances that I would have discussed with him, each and every time he has come across as a Teacher to me; and that has helped survive the student in me. His strongest impact on me has been in making me realize the value of “LEARN TILL YOUR LAST MOMENT”.

He would tell us “I want you all to be LEARNERS and not become LEARNED”

The lessons were just not limited to economics or entrepreneurship. We would have talked and discussed almost every subject on this planet. From human development to spirituality; from inter gender dynamics to family businesses; from poverty alleviation to self development; from marriages to education system every topic was put across in a light so as to understand its significance. Most importantly, over all this years, till date his sole effort through every talk is to make his student know and realize his latent potential.

This belief – a strong and honest belief of my teacher in me forms the seed of my awareness; forms the basis of my understanding of me, it powers my vision of life and energizes my every attempt of developing myself. My thought processes and cognitive mechanisms have evolved from the seed of knowledge that he had sowed.

I attained the form of flesh and blood in 1979, whereas I derived my mind in 2000. My teacher gave me REBIRTH.

I feel that I am no way near in being a worthy student. If his teachings manifest themselves in my doings and I truly embody all that I am learning only then will I feel happy and contended.

Many Birthday’s have since gone by, it really doesn’t matter to me; but it is the ‘Rebirth day’ that holds greater significance to me. And I Endeavour to give myself a HAPPY RE BIRTH DAY – the day I shall be contended, the day I feel a sense of pride, the day I feel worthy, not in anyone else’s eye, but in my own assessment.

That day, I shall wish myself a Happy (re)Birth day!

PS : I have always debated with Dr. Krishna about attempting to publish his thoughts or atleast to blog so that a large number of ‘students’ be touched. However he remains so involved with the students around him that he hardly thinks of documenting himself. On this birthday of mine I initiate this segment on my blog in which I shall attempt to present the various talks that I had with him. It’s going to be a task to put various chats that I have had with him over varied contexts in the most correct manner. I take it up with a hope of letting more STUDENTS reach to a true TEACHER.